If She Can Stand It, I Can
Summary
"I was just wondering," Adrien admits, "Why was I so lucky? Why I would find you, just waiting for me to come along."
"Why there is no other man in my life?" Marinette translates.
Adrien nods.
"Well, that's easy." She answers curtly. "There was. He's dead."
After seeing Marinette for the first time in years, Adrien stays late and remembers his time dating Marinette two summers ago.
Note:
Content Warning – Alcohol Abuse
Adrien sat at the piano alone.
The club was closed, the staff had gone home, but Adrien was still there. The room was dark, with only a few security lights barely illuminating the floor, but it didn't bother Adrien. He was sitting at the piano, but he wasn't playing anything. He hadn't played piano in years. He kept the cover over the keys and was using it as a makeshift table. He had two glasses and a bottle of bourbon. One glass he sipped out of. The other sat unused on the top of the upright piano.
Adrien hated this piano. He remembered his father insisting he have a piano in his apartment when he moved out after lycée. At the time, Adrien hadn't minded. Sure, a 15k€ upright piano was not something an 18-year-old was dying to have in his new apartment, but Adrien had been so happy to get the modicum of freedom that moving out provided, that he didn't give his father a hard time about it.
The piano had sat, mostly unused for the first year of university. The only year, he supposed, since he had dropped out shortly after Viperion's death. But Nino hadn't dropped out, and that summer he was taking a jazz piano elective, so he would come over to Adrien's place sometimes to practice.
There was a time after that when the piano was in regular use, but Adrien didn't like to think about those months.
And now the piano had migrated to the sound booth at Chez Adrien. Nino still enjoyed playing, but he insisted he was a DJ, not a soloist, and so he rarely used it unless a customer requested. The piano usually sat in the corner, gathering dust. But tonight– tonight the piano hadn't left him alone. He had slipped his secret inside, the envelope he wished Max had never given him. And in return the piano had given him… Clara, singing and reminding him of how the city was before Ladybug left – Nino playing that song, her song – and now the piano was Adrien's accomplice as he slowly gave himself alcohol poisoning.
There was a creaking noise as the back staff door slowly opened, and a slim figure with a hood over his head slipped into the room. Adrien did not address the man as he approached the piano, instead choosing to continue staring into his drink.
"Bro…" Nino said, pulling the hood down.
Adrien ignored his friend and took the last sip of his drink, tilting his head back to get all the liquid into his mouth.
"Adrien!"
"Yes?" Adrien refused to look at Nino.
"It's late," Nino observed. "You going to bed soon?"
Adrien paused to refill his drink before answering.
"Not right now," he said grimly, still avoiding eye contact.
Adrien knew he looked like shit, and he knew Nino wasn't going to let it go, but he wasn't in the mood to be cheered up. Tonight had brought up so many memories, and right now, all he could focus on was forgetting them.
Nino moved closer to Adrien and gave him a lighthearted punch on the shoulder.
"You planning on going to bed in the near future?" Nino asked hopefully.
"No."
"You ever going to bed?"
"No."
Nino leaned up against the piano.
"That's good because I ain't sleepy either, I'll stay up with you." Nino smiled, trying to get any kind of reaction out of Adrien.
"Fine, have a drink," Adrien insisted, pushing the unused on the top of the piano toward Nino.
"I still don't drink," Nino reminded him with a smirk.
"Don't have a drink then," Adrien raised his hands in defeat, starting to slur his words.
"Bro, let's get outta here," Nino begged him. In his peripheral vision, Adrien could see the look of deep concern on his friend's face.
"No, I can't go," Adrien told him. "I'm waiting for a lady."
"Come on, bro," Nino insisted emphatically. "Let's go, there's nothing but trouble for you with her."
"She's coming back," Adrien insisted. "I know her, and I know she's coming back. She can't just come in here— with— and not—" Adrien trailed off.
"Come on, you don't gotta go home," Nino tried. "Let's take the car and go for a drive. We can drive all night, go fishing, and stay away until she's gone."
"Shut up and go home, will you?" Adrien spat back.
But Nino was not deterred so easily. He sat down on the piano bench, forcing Adrien to scoot over to make room.
"Sorry bro, I'm staying right here," Nino asserted.
Nino grabbed the bottle of bourbon and took the drink out of Adrien's hand, placing both on the top of the piano with the unused glass. He lifted up the key cover and began to softly play something off the top of his head.
Adrien was quiet for a moment, just listening to Nino's playing, struggling to continue sitting upright as he realized how drunk he really was.
"They grab Max and then she walks in!" Adrien burst out in a drunken ramble. "That's the way it goes, one in, one out…"
Adrien trailed off momentarily, then continued his intoxicated rant.
"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, and she walks into mine - !"
Nino kept playing a soft tune, not acknowledging the nonsense his friend was spouting. Adrien slumped over onto Nino's shoulder, barely able to stay conscious.
"What are you playing?" he asked Nino somewhat irritably.
"Just a little something of my own," Nino replied, continuing to improvise on the piano.
"Well stop it," Adrien slurred out. "You know what I want to hear."
"No I don't," Nino lied.
"You played it for her and you can play it for me." Adrien pressed.
"Well, I don't think I can remember it…" Nino hesitated.
"If she can stand it, I can." Adrien insisted. "Play it!"
Nino gave a defeated sigh, and yielded to his friend's request, switching to the song he always used to play for Adrien and Marinette, back when the two were dating over two years ago.
And when two lovers woo
They still say "I love you"
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by
Adrien closed his eyes as he listened to the familiar melody, drifting off into memories that, no matter how hard he tried, he would never forget.
It's springtime in Paris. By this time in the year, the beginning of the early summer tourism season should have already started, but today the streets are not very busy. Adrien thinks that maybe they've been like this for a while. He walks through the 21st arrondissement, counting his steps under his breath.
"It's been months," Plagg complains from inside his shirt pocket. "You need to move on."
"It's been 56 days," Adrien corrects him. He never loses count.
"I already told you, this was bound to happen eventually," Plagg continues, seemingly unaffected by the weight of this topic. "Anyone who holds this miraculous for too long, they always become a killer."
Adrien stops in his tracks at the last word. The crowds today may be thin, but there are still some people around, preventing him from having an outright conversation with Plagg in public.
"I'm not a…" Adrien hesitates. "I'm not that, you know I didn't intend to–"
"Intentions matter," Plagg interrupts. "But so do the consequences."
Adrien continues walking, ignoring Plagg's cryptic warning.
"Please, stop giving me a hard time," Adrien asks Plagg under his breath. "I'm going to get the stupid cheese danish you wanted, we're almost at the bakery."
Plagg grumbles something that Adrien can't quite make out, but otherwise complies with Adrien's wish.
When Adrien approaches the bakery, there is a queue of 12 people outside.
"Popular place," Adrien comments to Plagg.
"I told you, it's the best in the city!" Plagg whispers back to him. "It's worth the wait, and you promised me a cheese danish!"
Adrien begrudgingly gets in the queue, not wanting to fight with Plagg. The past two months have been the worst of his life, and his kwami is the only true friend he has right now. As the queue moves forward, Adrien looks around, starting to recognize the neighborhood. Plagg reminds him that they've been here before, years ago when Adrien was in collège. The parents of one of Adrien's old classmates own this bakery.
"What was her name?" Adrien asks Plagg.
Plagg stares up at him judgmentally from his shirt pocket, but doesn't answer.
The only person Adrien has somewhat kept up with was Nino, and even then, replying to each other's Instagram stories once every four months was hardly "keeping up." How can he not remember anyone else's names?
As Adrien approaches the front of the queue, he is more determined to remember the girl's name. He remembers she was nice to him, maybe a little awkward, but who isn't at 14? He knows Nino is still dating her friend… Alysa? Ayesha?
But then the customer before him exits the shop, and it's Adrien's turn to go inside. As soon as he sees her, he remembers. She's standing behind the register, wearing a pink top covered by a canvas apron adorned with the bakery's logo. Her dark hair is pulled up into a bun near the top of her head, and she has light freckles dotting her cheeks and nose.
"Marinette!" Adrien greets her, approaching the counter.
Marinette looks startled, but recovers quickly and smiles at him.
"Adrien Agreste!" she squeaks out in a high-pitched voice. "It's been… a long time!"
"Yeah, I guess it has," Adrien admits, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Well, um, what can I get you today?" Marinette asks.
"Right!" Adrien exclaims, remembering he is supposed to order. "I, uh, I need six cheese danishes, and also… I remember you used to make the best passionfruit macarons, do you have any of those?"
"Yeah, yeah of course!" Marinette quickly replies. "I can't believe you remembered!"
"They were really good macarons," Adrien says, "Can I get 10?"
"No problem," Marinette smiles at him again as she puts on plastic gloves to package the pastries and confections. Adrien can't stop staring at that smile. Was her smile always that magnetic?
As she wraps his order, Marinette tries to make small talk with Adrien. She asks him about his modeling, and his studies. He tells her that he actually dropped out of university, just for a short time, and she confides that she's actually doing the same – taking a break for a semester to work at her parent's bakery. Adrien asks about Nino, and Marinette tells him that Nino and Alya are still doing great, and that Nino still talks about Adrien sometimes.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to catch up with Nino," Adrien says as Marinette prints his receipt.
"We're actually all going out for lunch tomorrow, you should join us!"
Adrien looks up from his wallet, surprised at the invitation. Marinette looks just as surprised at herself, but breaks the tension with her soft smile.
"I— I would actually really love that," Adrien accepts immediately. Maybe she was just trying to be polite, but she had invited him, and all Adrien wants is to not feel this suffocating loneliness he's been trapped in.
Adrien writes his phone number on the back of the receipt and hands it back to Marinette.
"My number's changed a couple times since collège, but this is the current one," he explains.
Marinette accepts the receipt and promises to send him the details of their meetup.
As Adrien walks away from the bakery, Plagg pokes his head out to comment,
"Look at you, making friends! I'm proud of you."
"Do you really think they want to be friends with me again?" Adrien asks.
"I think the way that girl was looking at you, she wants to be more than just a friend," Plagg teases.
Adrien hesitates, but finally responds,
"Yeah, I think I might want that too."
Adrien falls hard and fast for Marinette. After their lunch with Nino and Alya, he asks her out on a date, which she accepts. Within two weeks they are going out every other day, and texting and calling each other daily. Marinette pulls Adrien out of the deep well of dark emotions he had thrown himself into, and embraces him with a love and kindness he's never known before. Adrien previously had crushes, but he never felt as in love as he does with her.
He and Marinette connect on a deep level. He can tell that, like him, she's had troubles in the past. At times, when they get lost in long conversations, they scratch the surface of something darker, something neither of them wants to talk about. But Adrien respects her boundaries, and in return she does not ask him uncomfortable questions about his past.
There is no hiding this relationship from Gabriel. Adrien expects his father to be upset, or to tell him he can't date a baker's daughter, but in the end Nathalie convinces him to let Adrien be happy. There's no harm to young love, she had said, and Adrien's relationship had noticeably improved his demeanor, making him a better model and a better Cat Noir for his father.
But with his luck, once Cat Noir got back into the swing of things, of course Ladybug does too. The death of her partner has clearly shaken her, but by midsummer, she has adjusted her fighting style, relying more on temporary heroes to assist her and developing new techniques and powers. She never gives Cat Noir a break in battle, but Adrien doesn't really mind. As long as he keeps the fight away from wherever Marinette is at, he couldn't care less if he gets his hands on Ladybug's miraculous or not.
Marinette has changed his perspective in life. For the first time, he's making plans for the future, and thinking about what he wants. Not only that, but there are so many happy little things in their relationship that warm Adrien's heart, and make him feel at home. He's her first call when she hears good news, or is excited about something. He tells her all his jokes he comes up with, and she plays along even when they're not funny. He saves her a seat and gets her drinks when his father forces them to go to formal events. She makes him tiny decorative hats from leftover sewing scraps, which he insists he just collects, but are usually commandeered by Plagg.
Adrien also has friends again. Nino introduces him to some of his friends from university, and Marinette and Alya help him catch up with some of their friends they used to share, like Alix and Zoe. Nino even convinces Adrien to throw a party at his apartment, to host all his new and rekindled friends.
During the party, Adrien follows Marinette around as she socializes and chats with all the party guests. Adrien is impressed that she always remembers the smallest details about people, and she always manages to include him in the conversations, even when he feels a bit awkward.
Late in the evening, the party is still going but has mellowed out. Alya has lassoed Nino into playing various Frank Sinatra and Billy Holiday songs on the piano, and Marinette and Adrien retreat to a dark corner to snuggle up on a sofa and rest a bit. Marinette leans her head against Adrien's shoulder and closes her eyes, humming along to Nino's singing.
Adrien wraps one arm around Marinette's shoulder, and with the other, discreetly texts Nino something. He sees the notification light up Nino's phone across the room, and his friend quickly sees it and turns to wink at Adrien.
Nino transitions the song he's playing into one he often plays for Adrien and Marinette.
Moonlight and love songs
Never out of date
Hearts full of passion
Jealousy and hate
Woman needs man, and man must have his mate
That, no one can deny
Marinette peeks open an eyelid to look at her boyfriend when she realizes what song Nino's playing. She smiles at Adrien, and presses herself closer into him.
"He's playing our song," Marinette mumbled happily, smiling at Adrien. Adrien looks back at her with an unreadable look, but like he never wants to take his eyes off her.
"What are you thinking?" she asks him.
"I was just wondering," Adrien admits, "Why was I so lucky? Why would I find you, just waiting for me to come along."
"Why is there no other man in my life?" Marinette translates.
Adrien nods.
"Well, that's easy." She answers curtly. "There was. He's dead."
Adrien's breath hitches at the unexpected reply.
"I'm sorry," Adrien apologizes. "We agreed no questions about our pasts."
"It's alright," Marinette smiles at him kindly. "I know one answer that can take care of all our questions."
Marinette leans in, and Adrien loses himself in her kiss.
Adrien and Marinette meet up with Alya and Nino for breakfast one morning before Alya and Nino's classes. They sit outside at a restaurant in the Montmartre district, soaking in the summer sun and enjoying the early morning breeze.
Adrien looks down at his phone and sees a text message from Nathalie. He apologizes to the group about having to leave on short notice, giving the excuse of a "business emergency" with his father. Marinette seems sad he's leaving so soon, but she's used to Gabriel Agreste demanding too much time from his son. She agrees to meet Adrien back at his apartment in a few hours.
Adrien finds a secluded place to transform, retrieving a small communication device from his staff and placing it in his ear. He then heads south toward the GPS pin Nathalie had sent him. He was halfway across town when he finally heard Mayura's voice on his comms earbud.
"I'm in position at Champ de Mars," she says. "Cat Noir, you need to rendez-vous with the akuma at Fort de Vanves."
Cat Noir doesn't complain about how far he has to go in a short time. Fort de Vanves is so far south it's not even technically in Paris, but that also means it is very far from Montmartre where Marinette and his friends are. At least they will be safe during this battle.
Cat perches himself on top of Malakoff station near the rendez-vous point, searching for the Akuma while Hawkmoth explains the plan over their comms. He scans the area, finally identifying it when he sees a crowd of civilians running from around the corner. He vaults over, getting eyes on the Akuma.
Today's victim looks like a strange mix of Rogercop and a Roman Centurion. He has futuristic metallic armor, with a riot helmet and visor that covers his face. On his left arm he's carrying a huge ancient metal shield that covers his entire torso, and in his right hand he's wielding some kind of spear with a sharp point and barbs down the shaft. The super soldier is three times the size of a normal man, towering over scared civilians, but not much taller than the buildings on this street.
Cat Noir is just grateful his father had enough sense to not give the akuma a gun (this time). In the short time this man has been akumitized, he's already managed to flip several cars and start more than one fire. He's yelling and ranting about something, but it's so muffled by his visor that Cat Noir can't possibly figure out what was the cause of his negative emotion. Cat is about to move to a better vantage point when he sees a streak of red zip through the air in front of him, coming in contact with the Akuma's back and striking him so hard he hits the ground.
"Ladybug just arrived at my location," Cat Noir says into his comms. Mayura acknowledges, getting ready to create a sentimonster near the Eiffel Tower on the other side of town.
Cat doesn't join the fight with Ladybug right away. He had learned the hard way how unpredictable akumas could be, so he usually liked to observe their fighting style a bit first before he jumped into action to assist them. He watches as Ladybug impressively deals several blows to the akuma, but the metal armor is protecting him from receiving much damage.
The tide of the fight turns, as the akuma seems to have figured out Ladybug's strategy and is now dodging all of her attacks, easily batting away her yo-yo and dealing several blows of his own by parrying his shield. Cat hears Mayura on the comms confirm that their plan seems to be working, as Rena and Carapace have just arrived at Champ de Mars with her.
This had been a more recent strategy of Hawkmoth's, separating the akuma and the sentimonster. Akuma victims did have powerful emotions, perfect for creating sentimonsters, but they were also unrefined and unpredictable emotions. By splitting up, Mayura could create a specific sentimonster and draw Ladybug's allies away from her, simultaneously dividing the team and making it harder for them to capture the Amok that she kept with her.
The akuma thrust its spear forward, grazing Ladybug and knocking her off her balance. The soldier slams his shield into her side, pinning her against a brick wall. Cat Noir recognizes the target of opportunity, and jumps down to join the akuma to try to pull Ladybug's earrings off while she's trapped.
Ladybug struggles against the supersoldier's massive strength, unable to free herself. Cat doesn't even bother bantering, impatient to end the fight and get back to his girlfriend. He reaches for her right ear, and his gloved hand grazes the miraculous before suddenly he's blinded by a wet goo splashing into his eyes.
"Aaaagh!" Cat yells, stumbling back. He accidentally steps on the akuma's foot, drawing his rage away from Ladybug enough for his grip to loosen and for the black-spotted hero to escape.
Cat wipes his eyes, realizing that Ladybug must have literally spit in his face to pull that move off. He vaults off to follow Ladybug in her retreat, leaving the soldier to continue his crazed terrorizing of Malakoff.
Cat Noir chases after her frantically, trying to keep her in sight. Usually when she retreats during an akuma battle, it's to retrieve an ally, but he knew that the turtle and the fox, her go-to backup, were over six kilometers north of them, fighting Mayura's sentimonster.
As hard as he tries to chase her, she eventually ducks out of sight, and by the time he catches up she's nowhere to be found. Cat Noir curses himself, heading back toward the akuma where she's bound to show up again soon.
When Adrien finds the soldier again, it has razed almost three full city blocks. Most of the civilians in the area had now evacuated, leaving the akuma to continue committing property damage in peace. There are not many buildings left standing, at least not high enough to get a good view from, so Cat uses his staff to raise himself high in the air to get a better sightline.
When he's about ten meters up, he catches sight of the red hero making her way back toward the fight. But once she gets closer, he realizes it isn't Ladybug. At least it's not just Ladybug.
"We might have a problem," Cat reports back to Hawkmoth over the comms. "Ladybug is wearing an additional miraculous. Looks like maybe two additional…"
"Can you tell which ones?" his father asks.
"Not quite," Cat admits. "She's got yellow and purple stripes though, so maybe the bee and something else?"
"The tiger miraculous could give her purple stripes," Mayura provides. Her voice sounds tired, like maybe her fight is not going well.
"What does the tiger do agai–"
Cat Noir gets his answer before he could finish the question. As soon as Ladybug uses the tiger's power, a forceful wave of air and sound hit him and the akuma, knocking them both back. Cat can't keep his balance on his staff, and hits the ground hard, knocking the air out of his lungs.
"Adrien… Adrien!" he hears his father's voice pierce through his earbud. "She will always protect the Ladybug miraculous above all others, but with three she can't possibly protect them all. Grab any one of them you can!"
Cat Noir struggles to get up and regain his breath, and by the time he's back on his feet he sees Ladybug – or Lady-bee-tiger? – already on top of the stunned akuma, the yellow top with its stinger still in her hand. She reaches down to look for the akumatized object, but Cat Noir acts faster.
He throws his staff toward her, striking the side of her face and sending her tumbling violently to the ground and skidding several meters away from the soldier. He sprints toward her, trying to take advantage of her fall. Ladybug has a strange look on her face. Is she… smirking?
He realizes too late that there is a key detail of her new costume he has missed. The purple and yellow stripes across the red ladybug suit had hidden it from a distance, but now he can clearly see she most definitely has orange accents between the stripes, and a choker necklace around her neck.
"FETCH!" Ladybug called with a triumphant grin.
The akuma's helmet appears in her hand, which she single handedly cracks, the power of four miraculous in her grip strength. The black butterfly quickly emerges, while the akuma victim detransforms into a regular Parisian again.
Cat Noir lunges for Ladybug, but she easily dodges his messy attack, scooping up the akuma and swinging away in one toss of her yo-yo. Cat Noir is left panting, still trying to catch his breath, as she takes off north toward her teammates to join the fight against Mayura.
"I see you failed again, Cat Noir," Hawkmoth's icy voice strikes his eardrums.
"She was wearing four miraculous! I didn't stand a chance," Cat Noir defends.
"Four?" his father responds, sounding surprised.
"Wearing that many miraculous at once can have a heavy toll on the wearer," Mayura chimes in. "We may be able to take advantage of her fatigue and retrieve some of her jewelry."
"Follow her, Cat Noir," Hawkmoth instructs. "And rejoin Mayura. The fight's not over yet."
